Kahani 2- Film Review

I had Vidya Balan on my top ten list of heroines. She vindicates my choice, with yet another stellar performance. The story is a bit more linear than in the first, but manages to keep you glued, rather than bored.

The ending is a bit melodramatic, but I was happy just to see this genre of suspense/drama reappear on Hindi screen. It does not have many takers, and Sujoy Ghosh must be a rare director-to be complimented for it. And doing it well too. Reminded me of old films like 36 Ghante, Faraar and Ittefaq.

The other actors who play the daughter, the wife of Arjun Rampal, his boss, and the corrupt policewoman, are also good. Arjun and Jugal Hansraj play their parts well. The cinematography is good and the editing tight. The pace is good, and keeps you engrossed because there are hardly any unnecessary diversions.

I would say, go watch it if you are either into suspenseful dramas or Vidya Balan.

Prof Ananth

I keep listening to many people as a part of my job. I think public speaking in our country needs to be taught on a war footing, because many speakers manage to effortlessly put me to sleep. One exception was this week. Prof. Ananth, former director, IIT Madras. I heard him speak at an event TCS conducted called Sangam, an academia-industry interface. He was superb. He spoke about education- higher education- and its purpose. My IIMB classmate Sandhya who was head of the Research Park near IIT also figured in his talk, but that's incidental.

Here are a few gems from his talk.

On the futility of excessive exams

C. Rajagopalachari once visited us (he narrated), and asked during his talk, "I believe you have exams EVERY YEAR nowadays?,"  looking surprised at it.

On Repetition

The speaker visited the US and heard a pastor giving his sermon. He asked the pastor at the end, "Why did you repeat the same thing seven times?" The pastor told him, "Because, at any given time, only a seventh of your audience is listening." After narrating this, Prof Ananth quipped, "the rest of the time they sleep or do something else."

On Teaching

"Impart the joy for the subject that you feel to the students. They will learn on their own, or from friends etc.. Don't worry about them passing, or covering the syllabus. " I agree.

Intuition

We teach logical things. Intuition is very important too, but it can't be taught. We hope that students will be able to develop it.

On a Director's Role

Hire brilliant people, leave them alone, and PRAY.. that they will do good stuff. Of course, they may or may not :)

What I enjoyed most this year..

So far this year, I enjoyed-

random chats with fb friends.

teaching the Digital Marketing course.

planned and unplanned meetings with alums of earlier batches of various B schools I taught in- some took the trouble to visit me in Indore too.

family time at Hyderabad, Pune.

conversations around the dining table, faculty lounge, in restaurants or at home.

running quizzes on random subjects on facebook, reading the answers.

watching some offbeat films... and a few formulaic ones.

reading a few good books- made my debut with Harry Potter.

travel to Cambodia, Singapore, Thailand for various conferences or work.

taking pics, one or two selfies included. :)

Demonetised Jokes

Don't demonise demonetisation- it's the wrong spelling.

A Demo was never so effective before.

What's the opposite of demonetise? Democratise (Cash supply).

What happens if you demonetise again and again? You become ir-redeemable.

What did the RBI guv say? I promise to pay you a sum of..conditions apply.

Who sang a song about demo? Remo.

What's it for the black money hoarders? Pay(back)- t(i)m(e)- in short, Paytm.

What I Learnt From...

You don't learn only from text books. Life's lessons are everywhere..these were some of mine. Not an exhaustive list.

I learnt unconditional love from my many aunts/cousins..still some way to go in practising it.

I learnt how to quip from Ameen Sayani, my favourite radio host - jockey sounds disrespectful in his case. He connected song to something interesting, always, in Binaca Geet Mala.

Learnt how to wiggle my eyebrows from an Uncle- it was great fun. Still is.

How to cook, from roommates and friends in the U.S. Quick and filling, was the key.

How to laugh, from reading PG Wodehouse, Asterix comics, and many others like Pu La, the Marathi humourist.

How to appreciate drama, from watching Bollywood films, children, teenagers,..

To appreciate music, from listening to GREAT singers- Rafi, Kishore, Hemant, Talat, Asha, Geeta, ..

Teaching, by experimenting with many different ideas, not being wedded to any one..

Writing, I have no idea how..

New Songs for Changeing Times

New songs must be coined for the çhanged, or changing times.- where you are either short of change, or short of money itself. Here is an attempt. Inspiration is from old songs, of course- original thinking is passe- haven't you heard?

Ooo khilona, jaan kar tum toh purana note laati ho..

Jeena bhi kya hai jeena, ATM lines ke bina..oo ho ho, aa ha ha..

O majhi re, purane note le ja, nadiya ki dhara mein..

Zindagi ka safar, hai yeh kaisa suffer, koi note nahin, hai toh chalta nahin..

Yaadon ki baraat nikli hai aaj dil ke dwaare, purane noton ke haar pehne Mayawati ko pukaare..

Main to chala, jidhar ATM dikha, kahan meri manzil, mujhe kya pata..

Hum black money wale, hargiz na the, par hum white bhi ikattha kar na sake, humko mili iski sazaa, paise ke liye dar dar phire..jhingalala hoom, jhingala hoom.

Koi maane ya na maane jo kal tak the anjaane woh aaj hamein jaan se bhi pyare ho gaye (new notes- no change in original lyrics here)

The Colour of Money and People

The colours are important. Black or white. You are looked at through jaundiced (yellow) eyes. You may be pure as driven snow (white), or Snow White herself. Or you may be a Grey or worse. People end up revealing their true colours at some point.

We learn to colour things early-with our drawing books. Beauty may lie in the eyes of the beholder, but colours have a lot to do with it. A red rose would not be the same if it was some lesser colour. The blue of the sea and the green of the valley is something we cherish.

The money too. The black is what is earned through foul means. So taking money out and forcing people to work and barter their labour for something may be a good way to purge humanity of its ills. We are temporarily is such a state with the demonetisation, and have begun to appreciate how a poor man lives without any cash, for days on end. The month-end syndrome of no cash has become a daily occurrence for the last few days.

The new notes are of a different colour altogether. Hope they bring in a change of perspective for our coloured perceptions about things that are important for all of us.